Hulu Sale Loses Bidder Guggenheim Partners

The ongoing secretive auction/sale of Hulu.com lost a key player when Guggenheim Partners dropped out of the running for the online content aggregator and subscription video-on-demand service co-owned by The Walt Disney Co., 21st Century Fox (formerly News Corp.) and Comcast, according to media reports.

No. 1 satellite TV operator, DirecTV, remains in the driver’s seat with a solo bid of around $1 billion for Hulu followed by a joint bid from AT&T and former News Corp. executive Peter Chernin’s media company.

Time Warner Cable reportedly wants to become a fourth owner of the platform that includes SVOD service Hulu Plus.

In addition to the price, issues challenging consummation of a deal include rights to third-party content, the length of the rights and related distribution windows.

Hulu, which was first put up for sale by Disney & Co. in 2011, was later pulled from the auction block when bidders — led by Dish Network — failed to reach the $2 billion threshold, and Hulu’s owners wanted to reassess their stakes in the platform.